BOATS TO GO

What do the Regent’s Canal, ice cream, and a Swiss-Italian merchant from Victorian times have in common? The answer is to be explored by British Waterways and structural engineers Conisbee as part of the London Festival of Architecture, on Sunday 6 July 2008.

Carlo Gatti is credited with being Britain’s first ice cream man, cutting ice from the Regent’s Canal to make ice cream, a previously exclusive delight reserved for the rich, ice cream was made available to Londoner’s in his café which he opened in Holborn in 1849.

And now British Waterways has teamed up with award-winning eco-restaurant The Waterhouse, run by Britain’s greenest chef Arthur Potts Dawson, to create a ‘canal flavoured’ ice cream in honour of Gatti, made with ingredients foraged from the water’s edge in London.

Arthur says: “The location of the Waterhouse by the canal is central to its identity, so it’s a great chance to get involved in celebrating the history of a British culinary phenomenon that has its roots on the canal. Foraging for a local ingredient to base an ice cream flavour on was an enjoyable challenge for us all in the kitchen here, and we hope it proves popular with our customers and canal visitors alike.”

The elderflower flavour ice has been added to the menu at the Waterhouse and will also be available to taste on the canal as part of a series of events inviting visitors to gain a fresh outlook on the canal’s environment, and discover new aspects of the 200 year-old transport network.

Simon Bamford, General Manager, British Waterways London says: “We’re hoping the events that we’re putting on along the Regent’s Canal as part of the London Festival of Architecture will capture the public’s interest in the wealth of heritage and the waterway environment. This is certainly a very distinctive way of capturing the imagination, using a universally-loved treat that ties in to the rich history of the area.

“It also shows the veritable larder of foods that are waiting to be foraged along the lengths of even urban canals. With a bit of thought, a walk along the towpath can be turned into an original experiment in the kitchen.”

On Sunday 6 July, an actor impersonating Carlo Gatti will be walking the towpath telling visitors all about his business ventures, which included bringing 400 tons of Norwegian ice by canal to New Wharf Road. The London Canal Museum, that is open for free on the day, will have talks on the ice trade and ice wells.

For more information about the event, including timings, ticket details and prices, visit www.waterscape.com or www.refreshregentscanal.co.uk

For further information on the London Festival of Architecture visit www.lfa2008.org

16 Jun Dover 7 28 Jul Fort William

Eastbourne

Brighton Inverness

Chichester Lossiemouth

23Jun Lymington 8 4 Aug Macduff/Banff

Portland Peterhead

Brixham/Dartmouth Aberdeen

Salcombe Arbroath

30 Jun Mevagissey Dunbar

Newlyn 9 11 Aug Edinburgh

Padstow Amble

Bude Hartlepool

7 Jul Tenby 10 18 Aug Scarborough

Milford Haven Bridlington

Fishguard Grimsby

Wexford 11 25 Aug Blakeney/Wells

14 Jul Arklow Lowestoft

Wicklow Harwich

Dun Laoghaire/Dublin 12 1 Sep Ramsgate

Howth Dover

Carlingford Lough

Strangford Lough

21 Jul Portpatrick

Troon

Tarbet

Crinan

Oban/Dunstaffnage

The Caledonian Canal

DRAFT ITINERARY

Subject to change based upon prevailing weather conditions and other circumstances

The Crinan Canal

The Kennet & Avon Canal (K&A) was restored with the aid of £25M of Heritage

Lottery Funding and has proved in many different respects to be a great success.

There are now approximately 2,000 craft on the canal and demand for moorings is

significantly in excess of supply. This excess demand may be catered for by the

creation of additional off line moorings in at least two known locations though we

anticipate that in time more developments will come forward. The success of the

canal’s restoration has brought with it great rewards and benefits to a wide cross

section of people and communities but also challenges and issues. This

consultation paper addresses one such issue – unacceptably high levels of licence

evasion.

The Problem

Craft Licence evasion and control of this is a serious issue across BW’s waterways.

This requires the deployment of significant resources to police and control. These

include uniformed Enforcement Officers supported by administrative staff that check

boats and deal with craft found to be unlicensed. This process involves BW legal

staff, external solicitors and operational staff supported by specialist contractors and

equipment to remove vessels from the water when the legal process is completed.

Once removed from the water craft surveyors are employed and boats stored for at

least 6 weeks in secure premises prior to being sold or destroyed. The cost of these

processes have to be met from budgets that would otherwise be spent on canal

infrastructure and facility maintenance or improvement. They are therefore to the

detriment of all licence paying craft owners.

BW is determined to tackle this problem of licence evasion and additional resources

have been allocated to this area of our business in order that we can reduce the

evasion rate to, or below, our current target of 3%. These extra resources have

funded the employment of a third uniformed Enforcement Officer for the K&A with

additional administrative back up to ensure that the increased caseload can be

processed quickly and efficiently. In November 2007 the K&A Evasion rate was

11.5%. Focussed enforcement activity has reduced this figure since that date. An

accurate assessment only arises from a full boat count which is conducted annually

in November.

This consultation paper seeks to obtain the views of K&A Craft Licence holders,

though others may wish to comment and are welcome to do so, on the proposed

next stage of our drive to reduce craft licence evasion. In summary it is proposed

that the locks at each end of the canal are staffed such that unlicensed craft are not

permitted onto the canal. Staff at the locks will also be able to sell licences to those

arriving without one. This will be supported by the random manning of other locks

from time to time with licence checks. Where such checks are performed by lock

keepers the policy will be one of “no licence, no passage”. The necessary

consequence of staffing locks at either end of the canal is that opening hours will be

introduced with the locks being secured each evening and reopened the following

morning.

The fine detail of the above summary needs to be determined as a result of this

consultation process, though a number of suggestions are made below to aid the

debate. Whilst these describe the proposals they are not intended to be definitive.

3

We are committed to obtaining the views of customers and stakeholders and will

arrive at a final decision after taking all such views into account.

Proposals

1. Hanham Lock on the Western end of the canal is staffed

2. County Lock on the Eastern end of the canal, or one close by, is staffed

3. Provision is made for locks along the navigation to be staffed at random

times with a requirement to display a valid craft licence in order to pass

through the lock.

4. Opening hours at either end of the canal are introduced as follows:

a. April to October 9am to 6pm

b. November to March 10am to 3pm

NB. The precise date of Easter each year will determine the changeover from the winter

(10am to 3pm) timetable to the Summer (9am to 6pm) timetable. The changeover will

take place ahead of the public holiday weekend and will take account of school term

times.

5. Licences will be sold at staffed locks on either end of the canal. Licences

will be available here for periods of 6 and 12 months. Payment will only be

accepted by credit or debit card.

Timetable

16 April 2008 Consultation Paper tabled ahead of formal launch at the

National Waterway User and Special Interest Group

Meeting as this group only meets twice per year.

21 April 2008 Consultation documents posted to all K&A Craft Licence

Holders and other interested groups

21 July 2008 Deadline for receipt of comments to the BW Gloucester

Office

1 Sept 2008 Formal response published. Sent to all respondents and

published on www.britishwaterways.co.uk